afrol News, 30 May - Outraged by the findings of a recent survey that 30% of the country's imported medicines were fake, Kenyan authorities did not waste time to deploy secret service agents on the streets to remedy the situation.

Kenya's National Quality Control Laboratories and the Pharmacy and Poisons Board found that some imported drugs were counterfeit and contain chalk or water.

Kenya's Medical Services Minister, Anyang Nyongo, assured his department's resolve to work with state security agents "to perfect the surveillance methods so as to decrease the probability of having more counterfeits in the market."

He revealed that the fight against counterfeit drugs will be similar to the one employed on combating drugs smuggling.

He said those bent on selling fake drugs to Kenyans "will be caught very soon and answer for your sins."

Dr. Ngongo contradicted an earlier report that 38% of Kenya's malaria drugs were fake. He put the figure at 16% instead.

Kenyan officials were worried by the importation of fake medicines, especially malaria drugs, considering its high death toll of children under five years. Apart from accounting for the death of 34,000 children, malaria also threatens the lives of over 25 million Kenyans.

The disease also accounts for 20% of all hospital admissions and between 30 to 50% of outpatients in the country.

Kenya's medical authorities are at the brink of pushing the revival of the National Social Health Insurance Fund bill to parliament. Dr. Ngongo said this will ease the medical burden for all Kenyans.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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